Dredges (i.e., dredging-type watercraft) are commonly used to remove sediments, vegetation, and/or debris, from the bottom areas of various types of bodies of water. Such bottom areas are herein described as a “water-beds.” For example, dredges may remove silt from a riverbed, sand from a seabed, or other materials from other types of water-beds. Dredges typically comprise a hull which floats on top of the water. A boom with a cutterhead can be pivotally attached to the hull. As such, when the cutterhead is in a lowered position, i.e., with the cutterhead positioned adjacent to the water-bed, the cutterhead can be operated in combination with a pump to stir up and remove a slurry of water-bed material from the body of water.
Traditional dredges have implemented cutterheads that include a rotatable cutterbar within a shroud. With the cutterhead positioned adjacent to the water-bed, the rotatable cutterbar grinds into the water-bed and churns water-bed material, such that the water-bed material can be fluidized with the surrounding liquid to form a slurry. In addition, traditional dredges have also included pumps fluidly connected to the cutterhead, such as via a back side of the shroud, such that the dredge is capable of pumping the slurry away from the dredge to a barge or to an adjacent shoreline.
However, during dredging operations, certain types of debris can be encountered, which can clog or damage the dredge's cutterhead and/or pump, thereby interrupting or preventing dredging operations. For example, large, hard objects, such as rocks, trash, or other debris material, can clog or damage the cutterhead and/or pump. Some previously-used cutterheads implemented grate-like guards positioned upstream of the pump, with such guards being used to prevent such problematic debris from being introduced to the pump. However, such previously-used guards were generally rectangular in shape such that while the guards were effective at preventing problematic debris from being introduced the pump, the shape of the guards allowed the debris to remain within the shroud. With such debris remaining within the shroud, the cutterbar can be damaged by the debris. Furthermore, such debris can negatively affect the actuation of the cutterbar, which further inhibits dredging operations. In such instances, dredging operations are required to be halted, such that the debris can be manually removed from the cutterhead. As such, there is a need for an improved cutterhead that, in addition to preventing unwanted debris from entering the pump, will function to automatically remove any unwanted debris from the cutterhead.